The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-11-25
CHEAP CAS- Z.
What It Can BE Made and Sold For In chi
cago-Its Cost in the City Of London.

ty in the way of cheap gas for light ana iuei IL
that city said
There issno doubt whatever that the city OF
Chicago could make and sch gas at thirty cents
the thousand cubic feet ANY thorough gas
man will tell you that this can be done anu se
fore 1 get through / will show you how: AZ
thirty cents a thousand the quantity OF gas
used in Chicago would be ten or twenty tunes
what it is to day. HousesIcould be heated WIN
it, food cooked, engines run and all manuIactur
ing processes carried on at one-fourth or one
third the cost of the fuel which we now burned
in such crude fashion. filling the air with soot
and harmful carbonic gas. dehllng our houses
and stores, our clothing, and stocks OF goooS
and covering our city with black and nolsome
cloud. PittSburg is one of the cleanest
cities in the United States and Chicago aoouS
the dirtiest The air in Pittsburg is sweet ana
clean. That is because they have quit burning
coal in stoves and furnaces. Natural gas IS the
universal fuel. but if the supply OF natural gas
gives out the city will not go back to coal Gas
will be manufactured to take the place OF the
natural supply now in use. Investigation mas
shown that it is possible TO sell manufactured
gas at a profit in Pittsburg at fifteen cents a
thousand cubic feet. Having once tasted the
blessings of gas, of scientific combustion the
people of Pittsburg will never go back to the
barbarous methods now in vogue IN Chlcago
''What sort of a plant should chicago pullo'
and how much would 1t costF
'.In answering that let me say that have
been thinking this matter over a great deal, ana
the more / think about it the more am I'M
pressed with the Importance of the subject IN
building gas works Chicago should build with
as well as general light. 1t would be folly TO
go into the scheme for light alone. Moreover,
Chicago must build for the future. Whlie the
consumption is eight million cubic feet a
day works would have to be built capable OF
supplying perhaps sixty millions as soon as the
new system put in operation In ten
years the consumption might be one hundred
and fifty millions of cubic feet day. In thirty
years it might be twice great as that.
snow here are some facts which feel to be
of great Importance. Within the next few
years the streets of Chicago will have to be torn
up again. at any rate. for the mains or the pres
emit companies inadequate, and If the trust
does not improve its property to keep up with
the demand new companies will endeavor to put
in pipes and meet the wants of the people. LII
the streets are TO be generally torn up again,
why shouldn't the city of Chicago rise IN her
might and say: i am tired of this eternal dug
cling digging, of this building for the present
again and again, of this rapacity and monopoly
iii take charge of the work myself I'll put
gas mains in the streets big enough for a century
to Ill dig up the streets just once, and
then STOP
eff Chicago were to go into this business in
this suirit the results would be simply wonder
full She would want first a commission OF gas
experts and civil engineers to prepare grand
plan building for the future as well as the pres
emit Buy up the mains of the trust If the trust
would sell them for what they are actually worth,
which is about one-quarter oneth1rd what
they cost With all fiscal difficulties out of the
way three or four years of hard work would see
Chicago in possession of the best gas plant IN the
world" -,
'sHow much would such plant cost7'
.'That is something for a commission OF ex-
perts to determine, after careful lnvestlgatlon.
NV notion is that not less than 81 UOO UoU or
SIS OOO 900 would be required. The MAINS
would be the principal thing The pipes on I'M
portant thoroughfares would all want to De
very large mains, and throughout the city the
main capacity would have to be greater even
than that of the water mains. The waterma1ns
of the city OF Chicago have cost to date S|,OOo,-
600 though they could now be duplicated Tor
several millions less. A new system OF gas
mains large enough for the present and the
future would cost laid from 1000 900 S., OOO,-
OO0 The works, which should be tour IN mum
ber-two on the West side one on the North
side and one the South side-would cost
million or more each. New works could be add
ed as the demand increased, just as new pump
ing works are added to the water plant. But
the mains should be at least twice the required
capacity at the beginning
Now about the cost of gas!'
well coal gas is out of date. Oil gas is the
thing now. Yet coal gas is almost as cheap, and
We'll talk about that first L shall not go into
small details, though the figures L give you will
be those reached in actual work, not mere
guesses. Out of ton of 1000 pounds1of the
best Pittsburg coal 10 900 cubic feet OF gas can
be made The cost of the coal in Chicago is,
believe, about So. 25 a ton-the West Side Water
Works paid an average of Sd. IL during the year
1886 for the same coal-this giving US, say thir-
tv-two cents thousand feet of gas for coal: all
labor and superintendent is eleven cents more,
making total of forty three cents; leakage OF
gas in the mains varies from to III per cent, and
at the highest figure we have four cents more to
add to the cost of saable product. giving forty
seven cents; add 2 per cent for general repairs,
and 10 per cent for mains and renewals. and we
have about 50 cents a thousand feet. But out
of each ton of coal we have as product, besides
the gas fifteen bushels of coke and thirty gallons
of tar The market value of these products is
quite changeabe. but they can generally be so
disposed of that the coal used costs but ten
cents, instead of thirty-two cents for each
thousand cubic feet of gas made. bringing the net
cost of manufacturing and delivering allcoal gas
down to thirty cents a thousand, and making 1T
possible to sell such gas at forty cents thousand
profit.
900 cubic feet of oil gas requires 400 gallons OF
crude petroleum. $500 pounds of anthracite;
1,50O pounds of cheap steam coal. and S. or 81
worth of labor and supervision. One man can
make 10 900 cubic feet of this gas day and on a
large scale have no doubt that the gas can be
made and sold for twenty-five cents a thousand
Water gas is still cheaper. and can be made for
from eight to twelve cents thousand
cubic feet. It is good Illuminating gas only
when used in special burner of recent inven-
tion-a comb of carbon pencils placed over the
burner. The pencils become incandescent and
give out white. aoft but strong light, much
ike the electric incandescent lamps Gas light
ing has made wonderful progress during the last
few years. Electric competition has frightened
it up, and not for twenty-f five years has there
been such activity in the gas business. New in
yentions and new processes render gas one of
the cheapest of all modern products. The cleo
trio light cannot compare with it for general
The cheapest electric light is made by convert
ing oil and coal into gas, then burning the gas
under the boilers which afford power for the
dynamoS.
'ssIn London coal gas is sold at from fifty to
sixty cents a thousand, and the companies make
dividends of from 10 to IL per cent By law
they are allowed only 10 per cent. dividends, ex-
cept that for each reduction of penny in the
price they may add tone-quarter of per cent to
their annual dividends. The benefits thus
gained by better methods of manufacture are
endowed by consumer.an manufacturer alike.
EDO you know of any city which owns its gas
worksg'
Yes there are several. Richmond. Va, is
| one When the city bought the plant gas was
selling at ST. The city sells at ST., uses coal ex
| clusively, gets it own gas free. and out of the
profits is taking care of its gas bonds. Chicago
| can sell gas at fifty cents for light, heat and
| power and get its own gas for nothing. How
| much money do you suppose the city now
paws the gas companies in yeara Well in 1886
| it was nearly $400. 900. That sum would almost
| pay the interest a loan large enough to build
| new gas-works. My notion is that in building
gas-works we should do it with long period bonds,